Chapter : 19
“I….”
I wasn’t confident that I could accomplish anything as grand as these people seemed to expect of me.
But still—
“I’m not confident, but… if there’s anything I can do, I’ll help.”
“Ohhh….”
The faces of everyone in the room brightened.
Seeing them all look at me so happily made me feel shy.
“Then what should I… do?”
Something small. Something modest I could even do from home….
When I asked, the emperor nodded and spoke.
“For matters concerning the Demon King, we should ask the Rifricks family. I hear the Grand Duke’s estate is filled with untranslated ancient texts. Or how about going to subjugate monsters together with the Grand Duke?”
“Pardon? Me?”
When I failed to hide my flustered expression, Arkas stepped forward.
“Is there really a need for my sister to fight monsters herself? Helping with the interpretation of ancient texts seems more appropriate.”
Yes! Good job.
I sent him enthusiastic mental applause.
Then Sirinu, who had been sitting crookedly and merely listening until now, opened his mouth.
“So you’re asking us to bring the ancient texts from the Grand Duke’s estate?”
That’s it. Exactly. As expected, a pretty face comes with good ideas.
When I nodded in agreement, Sirinu leaned his head back against the chair and let out a short laugh.
“We can’t just casually send our family’s possessions outside.”
Huh? That’s not what I meant.
Sirinu curled his lips upward even more and looked at me.
The moment our eyes met, my heart began to race.
This stupid heart really acts up at the worst times.
His beautiful lips parted slightly.
“If the young lady comes to the Grand Duke’s estate, I can show them to her.”
For a moment, I doubted my own ears.
“The Grand Duke’s estate? Your home?”
“Yeah.”
“If I go there… do you mean I’d have to stay and eat there as well…?”
“That’s not what I meant, but that might be fine too.”
Ah. There goes my mouth again.
Of course, it’s not like we’d be sharing a room, and some might think I’m overreacting just about staying somewhere.
But isn’t this a little dangerous?
Who knows what I might do?
No—wait, that’s not it.
All I wanted was a small, manageable task I could do from home.
As I hesitated, Noel spoke up.
“Then I’ll take responsibility for this matter. How about I convey the contents of the ancient texts to Miss Selene?”
At those words, Sirinu’s brow creased sharply, like crumpled paper.
“The one with the ability is that young lady, and the one who offered to help is also that young lady. This doesn’t seem like something His Highness the Crown Prince needs to involve himself in.”
The smile on Noel’s lips faltered slightly.
Their gazes collided in midair.
“If you don’t like it, then forget the whole thing. I won’t lose anything.”
Sirinu said firmly, as if driving in the final nail. The people gathered in the conference room looked at me with worried expressions.
Then Arkas frowned and spoke.
“My sister is still an unmarried child. Staying at the Grand Duke’s estate would be inappropriate.”
“That’s right. It could easily lead to misunderstandings. Grand Duke.”
When Noel added that, Sirinu tapped the table lightly with his fingers.
“It’s an order from His Majesty the Emperor. Who would dare complain?”
Under the table, Arkas clenched his fist.
“Either way, I won’t allow Selene to go alone. Even if I have to camp in front of the estate, I’ll accompany her.”
“Interpreting ancient texts can be done at any time. Wouldn’t it be better to visit slowly?”
Sirinu replied to Arkas and Noel with thinly veiled sarcasm.
“And what if the Demon King revives at any moment? You’re awfully relaxed.”
The conversation among the three felt like it was steadily turning into a fight.
My emotions became complicated. Sirinu glanced at me and smiled as if amused.
“I’m curious what the young lady thinks.”
With the reluctance of someone forced to eat mustard while crying, I finally opened my mouth.
At Sirinu’s words, I barely managed to speak.
“Um… can I do it while lying down in bed?”
* * *
“If I’d known things would blow up like this, I would’ve just kept my mouth shut!”
Selene lay sprawled on her bed, kicking the blanket away with her feet.
Some people might wonder why she was so thrilled before, yet now hated the idea of going to Sirinu’s estate.
‘That and this are completely different…!’
The stamina and passion of people who followed celebrity schedules every day—Selene didn’t have that.
What she wanted was to lie comfortably at home, nibbling on her tiny scraps of content, freely indulging in her imagination without worrying about anyone else.
That was Selene’s ideal fangirl life.
‘Has anything gone the way I wanted so far?’
At this point, Selene even began to resent and hate the transmigration hotel that had sent her here.
‘I’ll sue them. I swear….’
Whether a lawsuit was even possible or not, Selene had no choice but to go to Sirinu’s estate.
The Grand Duke Rifricks’ estate was a massive castle located northwest of the capital.
It wasn’t extremely far, but considering the sheer size of the empire, it took more than half a day by carriage to reach.
Since a round trip alone took over a day, everyone agreed it was most efficient to handle as much work as possible in one visit.
‘Still… staying away from home for an entire week….’
Both Arkas and Noel wanted to accompany Selene, but Noel had too many duties at the imperial palace.
Sirinu refused to budge on his stance of allowing no one but Selene into the estate, while Arkas insisted he would camp outside the estate gates.
With no input from Selene, the travel plans were decided at lightning speed, and before she knew it, departure day arrived.
“Miss, you need to get up now. Oh dear, you’re lying down again.”
Despite having been fully prepared by the maids early in the morning, Selene was still buried under her blanket.
“You really must get up.”
“The carriage isn’t ready yet.”
‘There’s still time. Please don’t separate me from my bed.’
Selene stared at the ceiling with a mournful expression.
Yurie and Ruri exchanged glances, then crouched down beside her bed.
“Miss, please tell us honestly.”
“Tell you what?”
“Did the Grand Duke Rifricks mistreat you?”
“Huh?”
At the unexpected question, Selene’s eyes widened.
“No? Um… wait a second.”
She sank into thought.
‘Did he… make things difficult for me? Well, kind of? But not in the way they’re thinking….’
“Haah… you two don’t need to know about things like this….”
At that, Ruri gently took Selene’s hand.
“You can be honest with us. We may not be able to do much, but just talking about it might make you feel better.”
Yurie patted the back of Selene’s hand and added,
“Or should we tell the Count? He’ll find some kind of solution.”
Selene hesitated as she looked at their innocent faces.
From how often Sirinu’s name came up among the servants, it was clear that fans of Sirinu definitely existed in this world.
‘There’s nothing shameful about liking someone.’
Selene decided to open up just a little about her feelings.
“This is my first time dealing with something like this. Just thinking about being in the same space makes me nervous.”
Ruri and Yurie simultaneously recalled the cursed painting they had seen not long ago.
‘She hates even being in the same space with him… to the point it makes her shudder…!’
Unaware of their misunderstanding, Selene spoke carefully, trying not to sound too foolish.
“I don’t even know if I’ll be able to eat properly with that face in front of me. It probably won’t happen, but I worry that seeing him too often might break the illusion.”
‘For our miss, who has never skipped a meal, to be this afraid…!’
‘She hates the Grand Duke enough to want to smash him…!’
The two maids felt a surge of anger toward a Grand Duke they had never even met properly.
“Miss, the carriage is ready.”
The butler entered to announce their departure.
Selene let out a heavy sigh and climbed out of bed.
Unaware of the deep misunderstanding that had formed, Selene left the room.
Behind her, Ruri and Yurie pressed their heads together and whispered urgently.
* * *
“Ohhh my god….”
Who would’ve thought I’d ever ride in a carriage for this long?
Groaning like I was dying, I shifted my stiff back around.
Arkas stepped down from the carriage and looked at me with concern.
“Selie, if anything unpleasant happens, come back immediately. I’ll be waiting here.”
“Won’t it be uncomfortable staying here? I’ll go in and try to talk things out.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll always put you first. Yurie, I’m counting on you.”
After speaking kindly to Yurie, who sat beside me, Arkas jumped down from the carriage.
He and several retainers planned to camp in front of the estate.
I looked at them through the window with worry.
Even after leaving Arkas behind at the main gate, the carriage went on a little further before reaching the entrance.
The Grand Duke’s estate was on an entirely different scale from our mansion.
“Wow….”
I craned my neck back to stare up at the castle.
The black-brick structure felt like something straight out of Dracula’s lair.
“Welcome.”
As I stood there gazing upward, a voice spoke from the door that had just opened.
